This holiday season, donations made to the Good Holiday Spirit collection have brought food to the tables of a total of 28,000 low-income families with children. A survey targeted at the social and health care professionals who decide on the recipients of the vouchers shows that food shortage is not just a holiday period problem for low-income families, but an everyday one.
The year 2019 was full of aid work and humane deeds both at home and abroad. The following images are excerpts of what we have achieved together. Huge thanks to all volunteers, employees, supporters, partners and friends of the Red Cross!
The humanitarian situation in north and northeast Syria is extremely serious and worsening by the day as a result of the military actions taken by Turkey. The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent provide the people suffering from the conflict with emergency aid and promote the availability of clean water and health care services.
The European Union has granted five million euros in financial aid to the Finnish Red Cross for aid work carried out in Zimbabwe. Thanks to this financial aid, a total of 76,500 people suffering from food insecurity will be provided with cash donations for buying food.
September 28, 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the shipwreck of MS Estonia, which took the lives of 852 people. The disaster was a turning point to the psychosocial support organized by the Red Cross and it strengthened joined preparedness efforts between neighbouring Red Cross Societies.
Humanitarian crises have increased. Women and girls often shoulder a heavy burden in crises. In order for their special needs to be taken into consideration, women’s voices must be better heard and their role as active actors in humanitarian work must be acknowledged.
The festival area will feature a Red Cross volunteer on call as a support person who can be turned to in cases of harassment. The goal is to achieve zero-tolerance to sexual harassment.
The Finnish Red Cross has been providing lonely people wth volunteer friends for 60 years now. Every year, the services of volunteer friends are requested by tens of thousands of people suffering from loneliness.
Extreme weather phenomena and natural disasters are increasing with the rise in global temperatures. These disasters cause the most suffering to the poorest people in the world, who also have the least influence on climate change.
The epidemic has killed over a thousand people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the number of cases increasing at an alarming rate in recent weeks. With funding from the Disaster Relief Fund, the Finnish Red Cross has sent an aid worker to the DRC and is strengthening preparedness in neighbouring countries.
The international staff at the hospital includes eight aid workers from the Finnish Red Cross. The Al Hol refugee camp accommodates 74,000 people, 90 per cent of whom are women and children. The hot summer weather is making the conditions in the camp worse.
Humanitarian crises have increased. Women and girls often shoulder a heavy burden in crises. In order for their special needs to be taken into consideration, women’s voices must be better heard and their role as active actors in humanitarian work must be acknowledged.
The festival area will feature a Red Cross volunteer on call as a support person who can be turned to in cases of harassment. The goal is to achieve zero-tolerance to sexual harassment.
The Finnish Red Cross has been providing lonely people wth volunteer friends for 60 years now. Every year, the services of volunteer friends are requested by tens of thousands of people suffering from loneliness.
Lapland’s tourist season also employs asylum seekers. In March, the cleaning service provider N-Clean had about ten men in the Lapland area employed to keep everything clean.
A large part of asylum seekers are people of prime working age whose first wish is to find employment, support themselves and their families and be independent of handouts from society. They have many kinds of training and skills but find it hard to gain entry to the Finnish labour market.
According to the responses given to Taloustutkimus, the parents’ first aid skills are reflected in the children’s preparedness to help. In areas where parents had completed an above average number of first aid courses, the children’s ability to take action when an accident occurs was estimated to be better than elsewhere.
Companies, governments and tourists are showing an increasing interest in the Arctic region. This increases the likelihood of accidents requiring the preparedness and readiness skills of the Red Cross.
Football club Rovaniemen palloseura is one of this year’s recipients of the Red Cross Pioneer Against Prejudice Awards. In its operations, RoPS has championed a football-is-for-everyone attitude and publicly spoken out for non-discrimination and against racism.
The Finnish Red Cross wants to contribute to everyone having an equal opportunity to be a part of Finnish society. Everyone should be able to operate as an individual or as a member of different communities without being discriminated against. Equality means treating everyone equally.
This year, the donations collected in the Finnish Red Cross and the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare campaign helped a total of 28,000 low-income families with children. Food vouchers give many families a chance to have Christmas, but their situation must not be forgotten in everyday life.
In 2018, we worked hard to help people in Finland and abroad. The following images are excerpts of what we have achieved together. We wish to thank all our volunteers, employees, supporters, partners and friends of the Finnish Red Cross!
So far, nearly 844,000 euros have been donated to the Good Holiday Spirit collection for domestic low-income families with children. Approximately 1.1 million euros are still required to reach the collection goal.
The Finnish Red Cross is donating 100,000 euros from the Disaster Relief Fund to help the victims of the Yemeni Civil War. Money and aid are not enough, however – only respecting the rules of war can turn the situation in Yemen for the better.
Lives have been saved every day since October 2017 at the field hospital in Bangladesh, managed by the Finnish Red Cross. Now, the hospital along with its equipment has been transferred to the local Red Crescent, which will continue producing health services together with other organisations.
The Finnish Red Cross is donating EUR 100,000 from its Disaster Relief Fund for humanitarian aid in Ethiopia. In addition to the acts of inter-communal violence that escalated in June, the people of Ethiopia suffer from malnutrition and lack of clean water in Kochere and in the Gedeo Zone.
The Finnish Red Cross is sending two mobile clinics and two aid workers to assist the Kenya Red Cross Society as the flood situation escalates. A large part of Kenya has suffered from exceptionally heavy rains and floods on the Tana River.
The Syrian conflict has been raging on for seven years, and it shows no sign of abating. However, people living in Syria are not losing their humanity.
In Syria, millions of people are in need of help due to the violence that has continued for nearly seven years. The International Red Cross is appealing to all the parties in this conflict to protect civilians.
The first Finnish Red Cross aid workers will be flying to Bangladesh tomorrow at the earliest. The Disaster Relief Fund has granted 500,000 euros to managing the refugee crisis.
More than 58 000 people suffering from the drought received food thanks to cooperation between the Finnish Red Cross and the Baphalali Swaziland Red Cross, financed by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid.
The Finnish Red Cross has received numerous questions about how best to help the afflicted people in Eastern Africa and Yemen. At the moment, the most efficient way to get help to those in need is via the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
The Red Cross is supporting two hospitals by sending three nurses and medical supplies from Finland to Iraq. The hospitals are being used to treat people wounded in the fighting in Mosul.
Health care services in Syria have all but collapsed, and help is needed urgently. To this end the Finnish Red Cross is challenging everyone to participate in the Hunger Day Collection, to be held on 15–17 September.
